Have you heard of LaTomatina?
No?
This pretty much sums what Tomatina is all about
The end of August comes with the crazy Spanish festival La Tomatina. It is held in the Valencian town of Bunol. This messy,juicy and colourful festival has won many hearts.
Here are some interesting facts about the La Tomatina festival.
La Tomatina started in 1945 after a fight near a market
There are many stories regarding the origin of La Tomatina. The official website of La Tomatina informs us that it started in a parade in 1945. A fight had started near a marketplace, which resulted in people throwing vegetables at each other. Thus the Tomatina tradition was born.
A slice of Ham inaugurates the Tomatina festival
The Tomatina fest has a weird rule for beginning the festival. A slice of ham is hung on top of a pole. The moment the ham is retrieved , trucks filled with tomatoes arrive and the fight begins.
40 metric tonnes of Tomatoes are used
Yes, a huge astronomical number of tomatoes are used for this Tomatina fest.Mostly low quality, cheap tomatoes are used for this purpose.
The festival brings up other festivities
The La Tomatina festival brings with it a mood of festivity. A week of full cooking contests,fireworks and enjoyment follow.
Tomatoes act as disinfectant
After the fight ends firefighters wash the streets and the people with their hoses. The streets become surprisingly clean, as the acidic nature of the tomatoes acts as a disinfectant.
Battle of the sexes
In many cases, the fight gets converted to a playful battle between the men and the women.
Re-creation of the La Tomatina festival
The Tomatina festival has been recreated in many different countries like Nevada, Chicago, Costa Rica and Columbia. Though sadly an attempt to recreate the event in Bangalore, India was met with criticism. The huge wastage of tomatoes led to the ban of the event in India.
La Tomatina festival has become tourist attraction
La Tomatina has now become a huge tourist attraction. People from every part of the world visit Spain during this festival.
World’s biggest food fight
La Tomatina is the world’s largest state-sanctioned food fight. Every year almost 40,000 people make their way to the small Mediterranian town Buñol to have the most famous Tomato fight.
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